Myth: GKE Zonal Clusters Are Cheaper Than Regional Clusters

Early in my GKE journey, I assumed zonal clusters were the obvious cost saver. “Fewer zones, lower cost,” I thought. It seemed intuitive, and I even recommended zonal clusters to teams looking to save a few dollars.

Why This Myth Exists?

• The misconception comes from thinking that more zones always mean higher costs.

• People often compare node costs or assume replication automatically adds to cluster fees.

• Since regional clusters replicate control plane components across zones, it feels like they should be more expensive.

The Reality

GKE charges the same control plane management fee for both zonal and regional clusters.

The difference between the two is in availability and resilience, not cost.

Choosing zonal clusters solely for cost reasons is misleading — the potential downtime and operational overhead can actually result in higher indirect costs.

Experiment & Validate

Check GKE pricing: the $0.10/hour per cluster management fee applies regardless of zonal or regional configuration. Node pool costs scale with size, but the control plane cost is identical.

Step 1: Check GKE Regional Cluster Price on Calculator

Step 2: Check GKE Zonal Cluster Price with exactly same config as that of regional cluster

Key Takeaways

• Zonal clusters are not cheaper than regional clusters in GKE.

• The choice should be driven by availability requirements, not perceived cost savings.

• Misunderstanding this can lead to downtime and operational risks.